{{short description|American musical instrument retailer}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:Manny's Music }} {{Citation style|date=January 2024}} '''Manny's Music''' was an American [[Music store|music instrument store]] in [[New York City]] on Music Row (West 48th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues), [[Midtown Manhattan]], where musicians from beginner to professional could buy their instruments and meet each other. Many artists bought their first guitar from Manny's before they became famous. The store was in business for 74 years, from 1935 to 2009. Manny's relaunched in 2024<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Iconic Musical Instrument Store Manny's Announces Return with BandLab to Support Next Generation of Creators |url=https://vistamusic.com/news/11548-iconic-musical-instrument-store-mannys-announces-return-with-bandlab-to-support-next-generation-of-creators |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=Vista Musical Instruments}}</ref> after the brand was acquired by Vista Musical Instruments.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Vista Musical Instruments Confirms Acquisition of Manny's From Sam Ash |url=https://vistamusic.com/news/11288-vista-musical-instruments-confirms-acquisition-of-mannys-from-sam-ash |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=Vista Musical Instruments}}</ref>
== History == Manny Goldrich (15 April 1904 – 25 May 1968), originally a saxophone salesman, founded Manny's Musical Instruments & Accessories Inc. in 1935 on West 48th Street.<ref name="NYTs 2009 Jun 1" /> From its start until 1959, Manny's was located at 120 West 48th Street. "Music Row" was so named because of the many music shops clustered there.<ref name="DM 2013 Oct 2" /> At first, the store was about 20 feet by 20 feet, but expanded gradually to the whole building by about 1954. The store hit its heyday in the 1960s, after British invasion bands started to visit America. Prices were low and product ranges wider than in Europe. In 1965, [[Rockefeller Center]] offered to buy the property, and purchased a new building for Manny's at 156 West 48th Street. The shop moved officially to its new location in 1969, but Goldrich never got to see it. Before his death in 1968, he passed the store on to his son, Henry Goldrich (15 May 1932 – 16 February 2021),<ref name="NYTimes 2021 Mar 7" /> and daughter, Helen Burgauer.<ref name="Henry & Holly" /> Manny's eventually passed, in the early 1990s, to Manny Goldrich's grandsons, Ian and Judd Goldrich. In 1999, they sold Manny's to its chainstore rival across the street, [[Sam Ash Music]], who, in turn, maintained Manny's as a subsidiary and retained its staff and family managers until 2009.<ref name="NYTs 2009 Jun 1" /> Manny's relaunched in 2024<ref name=":0" /> after the brand was acquired from Sam Ash by Vista Musical Instruments.<ref name=":1" />
== The Wall of Fame ==
[[File:Mannys.jpg|thumb|right|Text on 48th Street in front of the shop's former location]]
The walls of Manny's had thousands of autographed publicity photos of musicians.<ref name="Henry & Holly" /> When Manny's closed in 2009, those photos became the focus of negotiations between Manny's owner, [[Sam Ash Music]], and Manny's founding family.<ref name="New Yorker 2009" /> Holly Goldrich, Manny Goldrich's granddaughter, and Sandi Bachom built a Web site, The Virtual Wall of Fame, where more than 3,000 photos are shown.<ref name="mannysvirtualwall" /> The artists in the pictures include:
* [[Johnny Ramone]] * [[Don McLean]] * [[Johnny Cash]] * [[Jimi Hendrix]] * [[Buddy Holly]] * [[The Beatles]] * [[The Doors]] * [[Bob Dylan]] * [[The Who]] * [[David Gilmour]]
== The Yellow Guitar == Henry Goldrich used to tell customers, "You try it, you buy it", as he did not want the shop's guitars to be scratched. This led to his purchase of "The Yellow Guitar", a [[Danelectro]] that had been used for a photo shoot and was painted yellow. Goldrich required customers who wanted to try different guitar effects to use this guitar. [[George Harrison]] tried to buy it, but Goldrich did not sell the guitar.<ref name="Henry & Holly" />
== Honors == * In 1988, Manny Goldrich was posthumously inducted into the [[NAMM]] Hall of Fame
== In popular culture ==
=== Music videos === * Manny's was featured in [[Guns N' Roses]]' "[[Paradise City]]" video.<ref name="NYTimes 2021 Mar 7" />
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name="NYTs 2009 Jun 1">[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/nyregion/01mannys.html?_r=0 "Saying Goodbye to Manny's Music; Losing a Celebrated Shop and Its Wall of Nostalgia,"] by Nate Schweber, ''[[New York Times]]'', June 1, 2009</ref>
<ref name="mannysvirtualwall">Website maintained by<div style="margin-left:2.4em;text-indent:0em">Holly Goldrich (Manny Goldrich's granddaughter)<br>c/o Ning, Inc.<br>285 Hamilton Ave., Ste 400<br>Palo Alto, CA 94301</div></ref>
<ref name="Henry & Holly">''[https://books.google.com/books?id=G0epQMwHzTMC&pg=PP1 The Wall of Fame: New York City's Legendary Manny's Music]'', by Henry Goldrich & Holly Goldrich Schoenfeld, [[Hal Leonard]] (2007); {{OCLC|85374675}}</ref>
<ref name="New Yorker 2009">[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/18/the-wall-2 "The Wall: Manny's Music,"] by [[John Seabrook]], ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Vol. 85, No. 14, May 18, 2009, pg. 23</ref>
<ref name="DM 2013 Oct 2">[https://dangerousminds.net/comments/jimi_hendrix_eye_popping_receipts_from_legendary_nyc_shop_mannys_music "Jimi Hendrix's Eye-Popping Receipts From Legendary NYC shop Manny’s Music,"] by Martin Schneider, ''Dangerous Minds'' {{URL|www.dangerousminds.net}}, October 2, 2013</ref>
<ref name="NYTimes 2021 Mar 7">{{cite news |last=Kilgannon |first=Corey |date=March 4, 2021 |title=Henry Goldrich, Gear Guru to Rock Stars, Is Dead at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/nyregion/henry-goldrich-dead.html |work=[[New York Times]] |location= |issue=March 7, 2021, Section A, Page 27 |access-date=March 7, 2021}}</ref> }}
== External links == * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-P1vuZm6ds Final Visit to Manny's Music on 48th Street, New York City (YouTube)] * [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/henry-goldrich Henry Goldrich Interview] at [[NAMM Oral History Program|NAMM Oral History Library]] (2003) * [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/ian-goldrich Ian Goldrich Interview] NAMM Oral History Library (2017) * [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/judd-goldrich Judd Goldrich Interview] NAMM Oral History Library (2017) * [http://mannysmusic.ning.com/ "The Virtual Wall of Fame"]
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[[Category:Musical instrument retailers of the United States]] [[Category:Retail companies established in 1935]] [[Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2009]] [[Category:1935 establishments in New York City]] [[Category:2009 disestablishments in New York City]]